I seem to be doing nothing but tossing and turning in bed, Father, so I may as well come sit with You for a bit. It surely will be a much better use of my time. I love our times together!
Matthew 23:5-12 (<<click to read the passage)
Lord, after reading through this passage several times the question that comes to mind is, “Where is my heart?”
I love music! I listen to all kinds of it when I work and travel and there are very few genres that I won’t listen to. My original vocational direction was to become a Minister of Music and for that, I went to school. Harmony is a beautiful thing and I can remember enjoying singing congregational hymns by singing first the melody line, then singing the tenor, then alto and then, not quite as successfully, bass. I enjoyed using the talents that God gave me. What a blessing!
But then a few years ago, I was listening to one of Dietrich Bonhoeffer books, entitled Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian in Community originally published in 1939. (Bonhoeffer was the German Lutheran minister martyred in World War II for his blatant opposition to Hitler.)
Anyway, it is a wonderful book but one thing he said in it struck me and has stuck with me. Here is a quote,
Unison singing, difficult as it is, is less of a musical than a spiritual matter. Only where everybody in the group is disposed to an attitude of worship and discipleship can unison singing, even though it may lack much musically, give us the joy which is peculiar to it alone.
His assertion was that we must be careful of why we sing harmony in worship – where is our heart? Do we sing to lift up the name and attributes of our God…or is our desire to lift ourselves up? I am by no means condemning the singing of harmony but I think we should closely examine our motives.
Lord, may we be careful of not following the Pharisees’ example of just looking holy but may it be our goal to be holy as You are holy. May we be about giving praise to You and not seeking it for ourselves. Amen.
Oct 19th, 2018, Fri, 2:36 am
